There are no Lord Advocate’s Guidelines in relation to assaults generally. Lord Advocate’s Guidelines have previously been issued to the Chief Constable in relation to the recorded police warning system for adult offenders.

There are currently no plans to publish the guidelines referred to above.

The Scottish Government published new guidance on the provision of equipment and adaptations in January 2023, this includes advice on the use of Technology Enabled Care (TEC) and assistive technology. The guidance recommends that Health and Social Care partners, with their Housing colleagues, work together to maximise the opportunities provided by TEC, developing local strategy and policies, which help people to choose their own digital solutions as part of self-management and earlier intervention approaches, as well as utilising technology to address issues of isolation and frailty.

Officials are now in the process of setting up a guidance Implementation Group, with the aim of working with the sector to ensure the guidance is fully embedded across Scotland. This will include making use of the new Baseline Assessment Tool to benchmark services against the Key Actions within the guidance. We expect the evaluation work to commence in the Spring of 2024, once we are through the pressures of winter.

Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy also outlines how technology will be used to reshape and improve services, support person-centered care, and improve outcomes.

Furthermore, the procurement and funding of our Connect Me digital platform has enabled access to this remote monitoring system for all Territorial Health Boards and Partnerships. The Connect Me programme provides the opportunity for IJBs to consider redesign of care pathways to incorporate digital solutions thus releasing resource capacity in their delivery services.

Running parallel to the Connect Me programme is the Digital Health and Care Directorate’s programmes for Social Care and Telecare. Both programmes work to support the social care sector (from IJBs and local authorities, to support and care provider organisation) in embedding the use of digital solutions for citizens.

Our vision is to have a Tobacco-Free Scotland by lowering smoking rates in our communities to 5% or less by 2034. Our aim is to create a generation of young people who do not want to smoke, with all the health and economic benefits that follow.

The Scottish Health Survey gathers data on children living in accommodation where someone regularly smokes and the number of children exposed to second hand smoke:

• In 2021, the proportion of children living in accommodation in which someone regularly smoked indoors was significantly lower than in previous years, from 19% in 2012 to 4% in 2021(Scottish Health Survey - 2021).
• In 2021, the proportion of children exposed to second-hand smoke in their own home was also significantly lower than in previous years, from 12% in 2012 to 2% in 2021 (Scottish Health Survey - 2021)

We do not hold specific data on the impact on poverty of parental smoking. However, in 2022 ASH Scotland estimated that on average, a smoker in Scotland uses 12 cigarettes a day. This costs around £2500 annually for people smoking pre-rolled cigarette and £1150 for those who roll tobacco. For further information see https://www.ashscotland.org.uk/ .

The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010 set outs the fines that can be levied and these are detailed below:

• offence of selling an NCP to a person under 18 - level 4 on the standard scale (£2,500)
• Offence of purchasing one on behalf of a person under 18 - level 5 on the standard scale (£5,000)
• Offence of purchasing an NCP by a person under 18 - level 1 on the standard scale (£200).

We do not currently have plans, at this time, to revise these fines and any revision would require consultation.

CSL engaged with a wide range of stakeholders including the Scottish Government, SEPA and producers on a regular basis. However as a private company their policies and practices were a decision for their management team and their board.

The Scottish Government received CSL’s application to be scheme administrator as referred to in S6W-20273. However, following the application process and in line with the DRS regulations, the Scottish Government did not have a role in providing authorisation to any of CSL’s policies as they were a private company.

The Scottish Government is deeply concerned about the health and economic impacts of smoking, that’s why we want to create a tobacco free Scotland by 2034 and will be publishing our refreshed tobacco action plan in autumn this year which will provide a roadmap as to our we will achieve that goal.

Information on the economic impact of smoking is available on the ASH Scotland website https://www.ashscotland.org.uk/ and on ASH website https://ash.org.uk/ .

The Scottish Government made an additional funding guarantee to Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, which was in addition to the HSCP’s share of the Primary Care Improvement Fund, which funds the majority of general practice Link Worker posts across Scotland. The guarantee of additional funding, should the HSCP require this, was to protect 26 existing posts.

The Scottish Government regularly meets with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to discuss a range of matters, including SFC governance.

SFC’s governance framework is set out by the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 and the September 2022 Framework Document setting out ways of working between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council. The Framework Document is supplemented by the annual Letter of Guidance which sets out Ministerial priorities and expectations.

Scottish Government officials regularly discuss a range of matters related to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), including SFC governance.

SFC’s governance framework is set out by the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 and the September 2022 Framework Document setting out ways of working between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council. The Framework Document is supplemented by the annual Letter of Guidance which sets out Ministerial priorities and expectations.

The Scottish Government released a statement responding to and welcoming Lord Etherton’s LGBT Veterans Independent Review on the day it was published. We said that the report made clear that from the many personal accounts within the review, that a grave injustice was done. Lord Etherton’s recommendations and suggestions will go some way to addressing that.

While the Armed Forces are a reserved matter, and the recommendations within the independent review are all for the UK Government to deliver, it did contain two suggestions for Scotland. These were around diversity and inclusivity policies and training for healthcare and housing providers, to ensure that veterans do not face any repeat of the homophobic policies they suffered whilst in the Armed Forces. The Scottish Government is committed to supporting LGBT veterans and is considering how to deliver on these suggestions.